Line Combos: HFPens Decides - 22/23 - 4th Line Wingers

[Randy Butternubs]

Less than a day left. McGinn seems to be a given.

The other wing is still up in the air.

@Nakawick & @vodeni please consider adding another winger to your vote.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I didn't know there was another Zohorniac like myself on here? Shocked how many votes my guy is getting.

I'm possibly the only lunatic that voted him our #1 prospect last year over the great Samwell Poulin

Edit: Found my 2021 post from the #1 prospect rankings and look like I had 2 others join me crowning our king:

"POJ is the obvious choice as he's closest to the NHL roster but for the sake of 'best prospect' I don't think his ceiling is great...I think he'll be a decent middle pairing guy.

I'm going with my dark horse early and saying screw the draft status hierarchy...my eyeballs tell me one cat has the potential to be something special. Very boom or bust but I can't deny the flash that I saw in limited viewing.

Zohorna. Book it."

Well our appreciation of him is at least supported by NHL stats, both offensively and defensively. I didn't just randomly latch onto hyping the guy.
Even if they are unsustainable rates, there's a lot of room for him to decline and still be a serviceable 4th liner.
I really don't see why Archibald would be more useful, in any capacity. Yeah he PK's but he's not actually good at it. And who said Z can't PK? Try him?

I'm glad some people are coming around, even if it's too late and Z is about to get claimed on waivers in a bit. Feel like the only thing that could prevent that now is injuries. Maybe I'm being a pessimist, but I don't think Sullivan has a high opinion of him, for whatever reason. He really only talks about him in interviews if asked about him directly. But he's happy to mention a ton of other prospects.
Similarly with Hextall, when he was asked about potential guys for the bottom 6 in the summer, he went deep into our prospects but omitted Z.

It just doesn't look good.

 

[Flying Dego]

Well our appreciation of him is at least supported by NHL stats, both offensively and defensively. I didn't just randomly latch onto hyping the guy.
Even if they are unsustainable rates, there's a lot of room for him to decline and still be a serviceable 4th liner.
I really don't see why Archibald would be more useful, in any capacity. Yeah he PK's but he's not actually good at it. And who said Z can't PK? Try him?

I'm glad some people are coming around, even if it's too late and Z is about to get claimed on waivers in a bit. Feel like the only thing that could prevent that now is injuries. Maybe I'm being a pessimist, but I don't think Sullivan has a high opinion of him, for whatever reason. He really only talks about him in interviews if asked about him directly. But he's happy to mention a ton of other prospects.
Similarly with Hextall, when he was asked about potential guys for the bottom 6 in the summer, he went deep into our prospects but omitted Z.

It just doesn't look good.

Unfortunately Z has an uphill battle not being an NA guy...he'll have to play so well it forces their hand which is a bit Unfortunate.

But Z has flashed hands that none of his competing counterparts have to me. He's also 6'6 and has some size that we could use. His possession metrics are bananas and he'd probably be a beast on the PK.

He needs to come into camp conditioned and be more aggressive otherwise he's gone so I admit he's got some work to do.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Unfortunately Z has an uphill battle not being an NA guy...he'll have to play so well it forces their hand which is a bit Unfortunate.

But Z has flashed hands that none of his competing counterparts have to me. He's also 6'6 and has some size that we could use. His possession metrics are bananas and he'd probably be a beast on the PK.

He needs to come into camp conditioned and be more aggressive otherwise he's gone so I admit he's got some work to do.

It's just frustrating for me. His offensive clip is better than any other bottom 6'er since he got his first game here.

We've outscored the opponent 20-2 with him on the ice in Pittsburgh at 5v5 so far. This is with him in a defensive role too.
Yet Hex feels compelled to look for scraps like Archi and Caggiula in free agency and Sullivan demotes him to Wilkes.

Yeah, conditioning. Fine. But even if he has to play 2 fewer minutes than his rivals he is still helping the team more.

 

[Flying Dego]

It's just frustrating for me. His offensive clip is better than any other bottom 6'er since he got his first game here.

We've outscored the opponent 20-2 with him on the ice in Pittsburgh at 5v5 so far. This is with him in a defensive role too.
Yet Hex feels compelled to look for scraps like Archi and Caggiula in free agency and Sullivan demotes him to Wilkes.

Yeah, conditioning. Fine. But even if he has to play 2 fewer minutes than his rivals he is still helping the team more.

Well I think he had an illness last year cause he looked off. That's why I'm hoping he comes in quicker this year like his rookie stint.

I get frustrated as well because he wins the eye test and analytics against his peers. I just want him given a shot. I still have a weird stretch of an imagination that he'd help Geno on L2 with his possession, size as a 3rd wheel.

This is where I'd probably get canned as a head coach because I would take big risks early in the year to gauge effectiveness.

I know what Zucker and Heinen will bring to Line 2. It's not great, can it be ok? Sure but Z has attributes that could create an interesting chemistry. Can't hurt to try for a few games but it'll never happen.

If he sucks after 3-5 games up there then fine scrap it. At least you know.

 

[Andy99]

Well our appreciation of him is at least supported by NHL stats, both offensively and defensively. I didn't just randomly latch onto hyping the guy.
Even if they are unsustainable rates, there's a lot of room for him to decline and still be a serviceable 4th liner.
I really don't see why Archibald would be more useful, in any capacity. Yeah he PK's but he's not actually good at it. And who said Z can't PK? Try him?

I'm glad some people are coming around, even if it's too late and Z is about to get claimed on waivers in a bit. Feel like the only thing that could prevent that now is injuries. Maybe I'm being a pessimist, but I don't think Sullivan has a high opinion of him, for whatever reason. He really only talks about him in interviews if asked about him directly. But he's happy to mention a ton of other prospects.
Similarly with Hextall, when he was asked about potential guys for the bottom 6 in the summer, he went deep into our prospects but omitted Z.

It just doesn't look good.

Zohorna has too much skill for Sullivan and he’s not a short speedy gritty winger…we have to waive him

 

[Flying Dego]

Zohorna has too much skill for Sullivan and he’s not a short speedy gritty winger…we have to waive him

Zohorna should do more language studies then hockey practice to get to Sully's good side.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Well I think he had an illness last year cause he looked off. That's why I'm hoping he comes in quicker this year like his rookie stint.

I get frustrated as well because he wins the eye test and analytics against his peers. I just want him given a shot. I still have a weird stretch of an imagination that he'd help Geno on L2 with his possession, size as a 3rd wheel.

This is where I'd probably get canned as a head coach because I would take big risks early in the year to gauge effectiveness.

I know what Zucker and Heinen will bring to Line 2. It's not great, can it be ok? Sure but Z has attributes that could create an interesting chemistry. Can't hurt to try for a few games but it'll never happen.

If he sucks after 3-5 games up there then fine scrap it. At least you know.

I'd have zero problems trying him with Malkin. The bar is low with the 3 guys battling for that spot.
At worst that line wouldn't score but it'd have better possession and O-zone time, decreasing the goals against. Basically what Heinen did there last year.
I think Heinen has an unsustainable low shooting % with Geno and that will improve with a 2nd look though. So I'd try that first.



I wonder how the puck squirted out to Marino there?
He gets no love for solid work like this.

 

[Gurglesons]

I'd have zero problems trying him with Malkin. The bar is low with the 3 guys battling for that spot.
At worst that line wouldn't score but it'd have better possession and O-zone time, decreasing the goals against. Basically what Heinen did there last year.
I think Heinen has an unsustainable low shooting % with Geno and that will improve with a 2nd look though. So I'd try that first.



I wonder how the puck squirted out to Marino there?
He gets no love for solid work like this.

What a heads up play in a game where we were up by 8 goals.

 

[dogthateats]

Marino was a loser just like his over-involved Dad. There’s a reason why you never won a super bowl with the Dolphins

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Marino was a loser just like his over-involved Dad. There’s a reason why you never won a super bowl with the Dolphins

Laces OUT, John!

 

[HandshakeLine]

Marino was a loser just like his over-involved Dad. There’s a reason why you never won a super bowl with the Dolphins

Central Catholic has a horrible development program. Not a single NHLer of note, tbh.

 

[Pens x]

I didn’t know Zohorna was spelled A-r-c-h-I-b-a-l-d.

 

[Flying Dego]

Central Catholic has a horrible development program. Not a single NHLer of note, tbh.

So for those familiar of the burgh my school Upper St. Clair lost like 5 football games my entire time there and it was usually in the state playoffs to Central Catholic cause they recruited talent.

As for hockey USC spanks Central Catholic...we got:
Ryan Malone and Vinny Trocheck
Honorable mention to my guy Dylan Reese who did get 3 games with the Pens back a decade ago...f*** I'm old.

Edit: fun note on Central Catholic. They had a 'tea bagging' hazing incident one year (all boys school as well which added some flare)...so when we played at Heinz Field all of us high schoolers brought a s*** ton of tea bags and pelted their fans relentlessly yelling about it. Those were the days.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I didn’t know Zohorna was spelled A-r-c-h-I-b-a-l-d.

Little known quirk about the vysočánský přízvuk.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Alright, just made the final tally. There were 39 complete votes with one incomplete vote only voting for McGinn.

Of the complete votes, McGinn got 77% (30/39) of those. Next closest individual was Poehling at 43.5% (17/39) and then Zohorna at 41% (16/39). DOC received 13 votes.

Since McGinn got the most votes I looked at just those pairings. The most voted for partner with McGinn was Poehling at 40% (12/30). Next up was Zohorna at 37% (11/30). DOC only had 7 votes to be with McGinn. Since Poehling and Zohorna are so close I'm going to have a runoff poll.